Gallagher Argues Against U.S. Lead at IDB in Latin America Advisor
Kevin Gallagher, Professor of Global Development Policy and Director of the Global Development Policy Center at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was featured in the Latin America Advisor, a publication of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington D.C. think tank. In the issue, Gallagher and José Antonio Ocampo, professor at Columbia University and former Columbia finance minister, discuss President Trump’s planned appointment of Mauricio Claver-Carone to lead the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Appointment of a U.S. official to lead the IDB would break an unwritten agreement that’s been in place since the bank’s inception that a Latin American would lead it. Gallagher and Ocampo argue that appointment of an American official to the presidency would erode trust that the U.S. has built up over decades at a time when it’s needed most.
An excerpt:
We should not forget that a U.S. citizen has always been president of the World Bank, and it would be unfortunate that a U.S. citizen would also lead a regional multilateral development bank. We therefore strongly support the principle that the presidency of the Inter-American Development Bank should continue to be held by a Latin American.
The full issue can be found here.
Kevin Gallagher is a professor of global development policy at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, where he directs the Global Development Policy Center. He is author or co-author of six books, including most recently, The China Triangle: Latin America’s China Boom and the Fate of the Washington Consensus. Read more about him here.